Module 4 Assignment 1: Why Google Glass?

The invention of Google Glass has disrupted the technology field thus changing the potential of wearable technology. According to Dr. Thornburg (2014a), a disruptive technology is simply a “new technology with the same functionality of an existing technology, but it functions more efficiently, and then obsoletes that technology.”  Once Google Glass evolves and becomes an emerging device, it has the potential of displacing hand held devices, especially cell phones.

High-tech wearables, such as Google Glass, can “extend one’s senses, improve memory, aid the wearer’s social life, translate conversations from sign language or another foreign language,  and even help him or her stay calm and collected” (Pentland, 1998, pg. 95). Three driving questions that lead to the development of Google Glass was “how do you want to connect to other people in your life and how do you want to connect to information? Should it be by just walking around looking down?” (Bin, 2013).

One of the many benefits of wearable technology, such as Google Glass, is that it enables users to “communicate ubiquitously between the physical and digital world” (Thornburg, 2014a). The augmented reality of Google glass offers a Non-Immersive interface which allows users to have their heads up while talking, listening, taking pictures, messaging, and receiving basic graphic information (Castellet, 2015).

The Google Glass technology is unlike its handheld mobile device counterpart that is attention-absorbing, immersive, and distracting from other tasks such as walking, driving, listening, and talking. “According to government reports, 3,328 deaths and 421,000 injuries per year are caused by distracted driving, with this now accounting for one in five of all crashes in the US and rising 6 percent per year” (Govers III, 2015).

Users of mobile phones become so consumed with swiping and scrolling on their screens that they lose the intimacy of social interactions and often miss the physical world around them while they are glued, engaged, and slouched downward towards their phone’s screen. Even after phones are upgraded and the screens are widened, users still display the slouched over, present but detached from the physical world, and completely engaged with the phone look.

Unfortunately, Google Glass has already completely stopped selling their Explorer products as of January 19, 2015 with no estimated date of release for a newer model  (Luckerson, 2015). Similar to technology that has been replaced in the past, Google Glass devices will experience the same fate, but will have their software mimicked in other products and devices that are less noticeable.

References:

Castellet, A. (2015). Wearable Devices and Their Disruptive Potential in the Mobile Media Ecosystem. Available at SSRN 2596212.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). David Thornburg: Disruptive technologies [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Govers III, F. (2015, May 14). Google reveals lessons learned (and accident count) from self-driving car program. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://www.gizmag.com/google-reveals-lessons-learned-from-self-driving-car-program/37481/ 

Luckerson, V. (2015, January 15). Google Will Stop Selling Glass Next Week. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://time.com/3669927/google-glass-explorer-program-ends/

Pentland, A. (1998). Wearable intelligence. Scientific American, Inc., 90-95. 

TED. (Producer). (2013). Sergey Bin: Why Google Glass? [Video file]. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_why_google_glass/transcript?language=en

Module 3 Assignment 1: 3D printers are enhancing life as we know it

  
“History doesn’t repeat itself. 
At best, it sometimes rhymes.”

—Mark Twain

According to a study by Briggs (2014) “Creative thinking not only enhances our ability to adapt to our environment and circumstances but also allows us to transform those environment and circumstances.” 3D technology is a perfect example of how humans have evolved to enhance and adapt the environment around them. Although technological devices might not reemerge from the past, the effect of their original impact has the ability to reappear time and time again. Dr. Thornburg (2014h) noted that it is not the technology that has been rekindled, but the effect of the technology that is rekindled and how it’s being used through their evolution and progression. As Dr. David Thornburg (2014h) noted how emerging technologies might not repeat, but often rhyme from the past, 3D printing is a rhyme of the ancient style of Chinese Block Printing that evolved to production printing which is currently seen in inkjet printers, laser printers, injection-molding, and printing presses. Currently, the 3D printer is capable of printing liquid or solid food; military machinery parts; body organs, prosthetic, parts, and skin; manufacturing and automotive parts; electronics; and toys (Gilpin, 2014).

Ancient Chinese Block Printing

Legos printed using Injecton Molding

Customized prosthetic printed on 3D printer for children
        range from $50 to $100 (Heigl, 2015).

http://enablingthefuture.org/

Cost of standard prosthetic limbs range from $5000 to $50000

                                                               (pictured: Deka Arm)

The fusion of 3D printing technology into medical practices, mechanical and science fields, and educational systems would allow users to transform their environment and circumstances by cutting production time, waste, and cost in half while also making the final product customizable and more precise. For example, Organovo is using 3D printers for bio-printing of human cells and tissue which cost roughly $1 per mold compared to $10000 to $200000 (Bricker, 2014). Utilizing the 3D printing technology limits the amount of human and animal testing while speeding the process for regenerating body parts to a matter of hours rather than weeks (Leckart, 2013).

Integrating technology into curriculum would allow students to acquire skills necessary for the future workforce which was seen when 3D printing was applied to science classes and media production into humanities courses (New Media Consortium Horizon Project, 2015, pg. 8). Extracting DNA samples would help forensic teams solve cases to identify suspects by printing off the face of the suspect rather than relying on a sketch artist to recreate the victim’s recollection of the perpetrator. An artist who originally set out to explore how much identifiable information existed on tossed chewing gum and cigarette butts was used a 3D printer to share her findings in an exhibit (Chow, 2013). Using the samples, she extracted DNA from the tossed chewing gum and cigarette butts to recreate the faces of the sample’s users (Ghose, 2015). Her findings could benefit forensic teams to identify suspects in a shorter period of time.

Zero-G3D printers that are currently being used in space help make the space program more “self-sufficient” by allowing them to print their own replacement parts, experiments, and food (Gilpin, 2014). You can submit digital data to the printers for astronauts to print out the design and test while in space. Imagine the cost and time efficiency that is improved simply by not having to ship so many devices into space if you can simply print them there.  Similarly, 3D printers would be revolutionary in the classroom allowing students to shift from simply being consumers of information to becoming creators of their own learning (Briggs, 2014). The New Media Consortium Horizon Project (2015) claimed that integrating 3D printing into sciences would enable students to “understand the various intersections between technology and virtually any subject matter, acquiring a skillset that is desired in the contemporary workforce” (pg. 8). By creating a curriculum that allows students to develop and produce new products, educators can enable them to become productive members of our society who will contribute to the jobs that are projected to emerge in the near future (Palmer, 2014).

Anderson and Rainie (2014) mentioned, “The world is moving rapidly towards ubiquitous connectivity that will further change how and where people associate, gather and share information, and consume media.” As more manufacturers adopt the 3D printing technology, the device will continue to advance. Devices are evolving to become more portable and allow users to become more productive and efficient in their work. Organovo is also developing a portable 3D bio-printer to “graft skin directly to burn victims” (Leckart, 2013). This same medical advancement has the potential to revolutionize medicinal practices as we know it to bring science fiction to reality.

References:

Anderson, J., & Rainie, L. (2014, March 10). Digital Life in 2025. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/digital-life-in-2025/

Bricker, D. (2014, February 10). New live-cell printing technology works like ancient Chinese wood blocking. Retrieved July 6, 2015, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/hm-nlp020614.php

Briggs, S. (2014, September 20). Students as creators: How to drive your students to be more than just consumers. Retrieved from http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/students-as-creators/

Chow, D. (2013, June 6). Artist Puts a Human Face on DNA. Retrieved July 4, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/37223-dna-portraits-genetic-privacy.html

Ghose, T. (2015, March 16). Bio-art: 3D-printed faces reconstructed from stray DNA. Retrieved July 4, 2015, from http://www.livescience.com/50146-art-genetic-data-privacy.html

Gilpin, L. (2014, February 12). 10 industries 3D printing will disrupt or decimate. Retrieved July 6, 2015, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-industries-3d-printing-will-disrupt-or-decimate/

Heigl, A. (2015, April 2). 7-year-old gets 3D-printed prosthetic arm – made for only $50 (VIDEO). Retrieved July 4, 2015, from http://www.people.com/article/faith-lennox-prosthetic-arm-3d-printed

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014h). David Thornburg: Rhymes of history [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Leckart, S. (2013, August 6). How 3-D printing body parts will revolutionize medicine. Retrieved July 4, 2015, from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-07/how-3-d-printing-body-parts-will-revolutionize-medicine

New Media Consortium Horizon Project. (2015). The NMC Horizon Report. Retrieved from
http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf

Palmer, K. (2014, October 17). Program helps Kansas city-area students create technology, not just use it. Retrieved from http://kcur.org/post/program-helps-kansas-city-area-students-create-technology-not-just-use-it